for those who are interested

if any of you actually enjoy reading the papers i have written down on the right side, there is a new one just recently uploaded. It is on a book entitled, For the Life of the World, by Alexander Schmemann. It is an amazing book, in that it approaches Worship and Christian living from a non-western point of view, which for me is very refreshing. I would recommend getting the book, but if you dont want to, a semi-brief essay following the major topics of the book is located down and to the right. Thanks.

valentimes

ok, so valentines day was super fun. but it started out with me feeling like a loaf because i wasn't able to do for joe what i had been planning for a month - long, beautiful love letter written with feather pen on old parchment sealed with wax and dropped conveniently onto the front seat of his car. oh, and a creme brulee butane torch. i've been sick for the last three weeks, and never got it together.

well, joe makes time in his insanely busy day to come knocking on my office door with gifts. then, he plans an elegant picnic on the rec field near our house. it first made me feel more like a loaf, but then i thought "forget it!" and embraced the luv, man. we had almost no food in the house, but the man got creative. heart-shaped chicken salad sandwhiches and cranberry spritzer.

later, my guilt crept up again. so i spent the evening cleaning the kitchen (that's a huge gift for joe...any dishes in the sink drives him batty) and made some pretty awesome chocolate chip cookies, if i do say so myself. i have been wanting to make this kind of cookie since i've known how to bake, and i've tried a ton of recipes. we happen to like ours fluffy and soft, not overly sweet, and carrying some sort of healthy bonus. so finally last night, i figured it out and concocted my own recipe. it's perfect. you should try it (recipe below). but then again, each to his own.

jen's chocolate chip cookie

wet ingredients:

1 c. butter

3/4 c. unbleached natural sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

dry ingredients:

3 c. unbleached flour

1 1/4 tsp. baking powder

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 Tbl. ground flax seed (you won't even know it's in there, i promise!)

3/4 c. walnuts, finely chopped

1 c. semisweet or dark chocolate chips

beat butter by itself until super fluffy (this is important). add sugars, and beat well. add eggs and vanilla and beat until just incorporated. in a seperate bowl, sift together all dry ingredients. add dry ingredients to wet, beat for a few rotations, then add nuts and chocolate. finish beating till everything is just incorporated. form good size balls with hands (12 per baking sheet) and bake for 15 minutes or so. they should be golden on the edges and soft and fluffy inside.

makes 30-ish

headline news

so, we had a cold spell, and - be ready to be impressed - it hailed. yah, i know. this is huge. and it even stuck to the ground. and i even got a picture of it. proof that our contribution to winter weather, though lame in power, comes in really aesthetically-pleasing round pellets. what does your winter weather look like?

my love

you'll probably see this between interviews, or on your iphone while walking to the octagon. thank you for my oversized floating heart, for Henry, and for my six long-stemmed living gems. do you remember this song, coming into moscow, week 2 of our marriage? yah, that was emotional. :)

home is a comfort, and home is a light, a place to leave the darkness outside;
home is a peaceful and ever-full feeling, a place where a soul safely hides.
and being at home should remind you that still there’s a place that’s prepared just for you,

and I think my home is just heaven’s reflection as long as my home’s here with you.

home is where someone is waiting and loving and happy to see you again,
that half of your heart that somebody else treasures, the one who’s your forever friend.

and when the world’s empty charm has done all of it’s harm,
I know that His love waits for me in your arms.

("home" song by michael card)

blowing one to you, my love. i love you.